This is after years of the university opposing alcohol sales in the stadium except to box seats and a subsequent rigmarole between the president, the regents and the legislature in deciding the issue back and forth.

I've heard through the grapevine that the university specifically does NOT want to make a profit on selling alcohol so I assume they intend to break even. With this line:

About $30,000 of the school's expenses were one-time costs to prepare the stadium -- from setting up ATMs to buying plants. That means if Gopher football fans buy as much booze in 2013 as they did last season, the school stands to pull in about $15,000 in profits.

FTFA: Rep. Dan Schoen, (DFL-St. Paul Park), ... "I think the average Minnesotan would have a very difficult time understanding how any business could do $900,000 in sales and lose $16,000 doing it," Schoen said. "With this information, we probably need to take a deeper look."

You know how I know this guy has never run a business?

/don't tell him that Bank of America in past years had $75 billion in revenue, and still lost money. His head might explode

FTFA: Roughly half of its revenues went directly to Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp., which had the contract to sell beer and wine.

I may have spotted the problem. It sounds like the school incurred all of the expense but handed half of the revenue to a private vendor. I'll bet dollars to donuts that Aramark didn't lose any money on the deal.

The Curse of Glen Mason lives. Had the Gophers accepted the natural order of things, aka ~7 wins a year and finishing in the middle of the conference, they would be fine. Instead they fired Mason and now they shall suffer the plagues known as Brewster, Kill, and Fiscal Moronity!

ha-ha-guy:The Curse of Glen Mason lives. Had the Gophers accepted the natural order of things, aka ~7 wins a year and finishing in the middle of the conference, they would be fine. Instead they fired Mason and now they shall suffer the plagues known as Brewster, Kill, and Fiscal Moronity!

I like Kill. This team actually plays hard.

Now if they could just recuirt a QB that could throw the damn ball accurately...

Yeah, but it seems like the seizure thing is going to cut his career short (either directly or via a secondary health problem that forces early retirement) right about the time he gets the program back on track, and then right back into the wilderness you go.

Russ1642:How is it possible to lose money selling booze? The margins are huge. Someone was embezzling.

Nope, not if it was the first year. They're going to take a hit in initial, mainly one-time, costs.

My alma mater sells beer at home games, and I guarantee- as in, I'd be willing to bet everything I own on it- that they had better initial margins than Minnesota, for one simple reason: the Alamodome was already set up for an alcohol concession.

If the Gophers only lost $16,000 for the year... that's nothing. They'll recoup that in the first quarter of next year's home opener. As long as they're not super short-sighted, it's primarily maintenance expenses from this point on.

mod3072:FTFA: Roughly half of its revenues went directly to Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp., which had the contract to sell beer and wine.

I may have spotted the problem. It sounds like the school incurred all of the expense but handed half of the revenue to a private vendor. I'll bet dollars to donuts that Aramark didn't lose any money on the deal.

Why the hell would Aramark have lost money on the deal? They are contracted food service people, you pay them rather than have to hire and license your own licensed booze slangers for a few weekends a year. Had they not hired Aramark they would have "handed half of the revenue" to employees instead of a private vendor.

lilplatinum:mod3072: FTFA: Roughly half of its revenues went directly to Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp., which had the contract to sell beer and wine.

I may have spotted the problem. It sounds like the school incurred all of the expense but handed half of the revenue to a private vendor. I'll bet dollars to donuts that Aramark didn't lose any money on the deal.

Why the hell would Aramark have lost money on the deal? They are contracted food service people, you pay them rather than have to hire and license your own licensed booze slangers for a few weekends a year. Had they not hired Aramark they would have "handed half of the revenue" to employees instead of a private vendor.

I doubt they'd have had to hand over half of that revenue just to the employees. They probably could have handled it fine on their own, but I'd bet money that the Aramark contract contains a clause that gives them rights to any expansion in food/beverage service.

The extra security, medical attention, and such seems kind of stupid. Unless Gopher fans never tailgated or drank before the game or sneaked in flasks. I'd think there would be less problems if you can buy beer as you want in the stadium at an even pace. This would prevent fans loading up on booze for the whole game in the parking lot.

eikni:The extra security, medical attention, and such seems kind of stupid. Unless Gopher fans never tailgated or drank before the game or sneaked in flasks. I'd think there would be less problems if you can buy beer as you want in the stadium at an even pace. This would prevent fans loading up on booze for the whole game in the parking lot.

As a U of MN employee, the administration fought tooth and nail to avoid selling alcohol at the stadium. They're fine with the Campus Club (for professors and staff who pay membership) having the ability to sell as much booze as possible, but for students, they pretend we're in a dry county in Utah.

I honestly think they'd be happier if they could avoid students at the game as well -- the student entrance is on the back side, at the farthest point from the rest of campus, and students can't use any other entrance. Also, to ensure that students don't resell tickets, they ID aggressively at that entrance (and only that entrance) -- if a hypothetical student Alice buys four tickets for her and three friends, and Alice can't make it, nobody gets in to the stadium because the person whose name is on the tickets isn't there.

They've also had breathalyzers at the student entrance in the past (not sure if currently). It's crazy.

Should be even more fun when the farking Vikings play in TCF Stadium for two years.

plutonium:eikni: The extra security, medical attention, and such seems kind of stupid. Unless Gopher fans never tailgated or drank before the game or sneaked in flasks. I'd think there would be less problems if you can buy beer as you want in the stadium at an even pace. This would prevent fans loading up on booze for the whole game in the parking lot.

As a U of MN employee, the administration fought tooth and nail to avoid selling alcohol at the stadium. They're fine with the Campus Club (for professors and staff who pay membership) having the ability to sell as much booze as possible, but for students, they pretend we're in a dry county in Utah.

I honestly think they'd be happier if they could avoid students at the game as well -- the student entrance is on the back side, at the farthest point from the rest of campus, and students can't use any other entrance. Also, to ensure that students don't resell tickets, they ID aggressively at that entrance (and only that entrance) -- if a hypothetical student Alice buys four tickets for her and three friends, and Alice can't make it, nobody gets in to the stadium because the person whose name is on the tickets isn't there.

They've also had breathalyzers at the student entrance in the past (not sure if currently). It's crazy.

Should be even more fun when the farking Vikings play in TCF Stadium for two years.

I remember a time, not too far in the past, when a lot of universities had a bowling alley and bar in the farking student union.Those have all gone away, and a lot of them are banning alcohol in the dorms, even if you are of age. I won't even get into outdoor smoking bans for the entire campus.

There was a time, not so long ago that students were treated like grown ass adults (you know, 18+) that could make their own decisions. Yeah, sometimes they make poor decisions, but they're still grown ass adults that pay a lot of money to be there.

buzzcut73:I remember a time, not too far in the past, when a lot of universities had a bowling alley and bar in the farking student union.Those have all gone away, and a lot of them are banning alcohol in the dorms, even if you are of age. I won't even get into outdoor smoking bans for the entire campus.

There was a time, not so long ago that students were treated like grown ass adults (you know, 18+) that could make their own decisions. Yeah, sometimes they make poor decisions, but they're still grown ass adults that pay a lot of money to be there.

/Rant off

The Bar / bowling alley is still well and functional in the student center on my campus. Opens at 11:00 am on Fridays, Wooo!

hp6sa:FTFA: Rep. Dan Schoen, (DFL-St. Paul Park), ... "I think the average Minnesotan would have a very difficult time understanding how any business could do $900,000 in sales and lose $16,000 doing it," Schoen said. "With this information, we probably need to take a deeper look."

You know how I know this guy has never run a business?

/don't tell him that Bank of America in past years had $75 billion in revenue, and still lost money. His head might explode

He has a point, though. He makes it horribly, but he has a point.

the numbers dont seem to add up. They also completely ignore impact on attendance.